Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and, more specifically, to a refrigerator comprising: a main body having a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment formed therein; an ice making compartment delimited as a separate thermal insulation space inside the refrigerator compartment, the ice making compartment having an ice maker and an ice storage bucket; and a door for opening/closing at least a part of the refrigerator compartment, the door having a dispenser installed thereon such that same communicates with the ice making compartment. The ice making compartment has an ice discharge port formed therein. The dispenser comprises: an ice transfer duct configured to communicate with the ice discharge port when the door is closed; and a gasket positioned on the periphery of the entrance of the ice transfer duct such that, when the door is closed, the upper end thereof contacts the periphery of the ice discharge port. The periphery of the ice outlet of the ice making compartment is formed to slope downwards as same extends from the front side toward the rear side. The upper end of the gasket is also formed to slope downwards as same extends from the front side toward the rear side. The above configuration improves the degree of sealing between the dispenser of the door and the ice storage bucket of the ice making compartment, and ensures that the door is opened/closed smoothly.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator, and more particularlyto a refrigerator for improving a sealing force between a dispenser of adoor and an ice storage bucket of an ice making compartment and smoothlyopening and closing the door.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator is a home appliance for storing food in arefrigerated or frozen state in a storage compartment opened and closedby a door. The refrigerator generally includes a refrigeratorcompartment for storing food in a refrigerated state at a lowtemperature and a freezer compartment for freezing and storing food in afrozen state.

The refrigerator may additionally include an ice making compartment thatmakes and stores ice for the convenience of a user. A technology of therefrigerator provided with the ice making compartment is disclosed inpatent document 1 (Korean Patent No. 10-0674573).

Refrigerators that have been recently released have a tendency toprovide a refrigerator compartment, that is used relatively morefrequently than a freezer compartment, at an upper part of a main bodyand to provide the freezer compartment, that is used relatively lessthan the refrigerator compartment, at a lower part of the main body. Inparticular, French door refrigerators, in which a refrigeratorcompartment is opened and closed by two pivot doors that arerespectively hinged and coupled to the left and right sides of a mainbody and are arranged side by side from left to right, and a freezercompartment is opened and closed by a drawer door slidably installed,have been recently in the spotlight.

If the refrigerator includes an ice making compartment inside therefrigerator compartment for convenience, the ice making compartment mayinclude an ice maker and an ice storage bucket to which ice made by theice maker is transferred. The ice storage bucket can be taken into andout of the ice making compartment. The pivot door may be provided with adispenser including an ice transfer duct and a gasket for sealing. Thus,when the pivot door is closed, ice stored in the ice storage bucket maybe directly transferred to the ice transfer duct. Therefore, ice storedin the ice making compartment can be taken out of the refrigeratorthrough an outlet port without opening the pivot door.

In the related art refrigerator, when the pivot door is closed, thegasket and an ice discharge port of the ice maker contacting each otherare formed side by side in front and back, that is, so as not to inclineto one side, and the gasket has a constant thickness. Hence, when thepivot door is closed, there were problems that the gasket and the icedischarge port are caught in each other, or the pivot door does notclose well due to the catching, or a sealing force is reduced due topoor adhesion between the gasket and the ice storage bucket.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT

-   (Patent Document 1) Korean Patent No. 10-0674573

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

An object of the present disclosure is to address the above-describedand other problems. Another object of the present disclosure is toprovide a refrigerator capable of smoothly opening and closing a doorprovided with a dispenser connected to an ice making compartment andimproving a sealing force between the door and an ice storage bucket ofthe ice making compartment.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator.

Technical Solution

In order to achieve the above-described and other objects, in one aspectof the present disclosure, there is provided a refrigerator comprising amain body provided with a refrigerator compartment and a freezercompartment; an ice making compartment formed in the main body as aseparate thermal insulation space from the refrigerator compartment, theice making compartment including an ice maker; and a door configured toopen and close the ice making compartment and the refrigeratorcompartment, the door including a dispenser communicating with the icemaking compartment, wherein the ice making compartment is provided withan ice discharge port from which an ice made by the ice maker isdischarged, wherein the dispenser is provided with an ice transfer ductcommunicating with the ice discharge port, wherein a gasket is installedat a perimeter of the ice transfer duct, and an upper surface of thegasket contacts a lower surface of the ice discharge port, and whereinthe lower surface of the ice discharge port and the upper surface of thegasket are formed to be inclined downward as they go from a front sideto a rear side.

A separation distance in an up-down direction between the perimeter ofthe ice transfer duct and a perimeter of the ice discharge portdecreases as it goes from the front side to the rear side. A thicknessof the gasket positioned at the perimeter of the ice transfer ductdecreases as it goes from the front side to the rear side.

The gasket includes a case contact portion having an upper end in closecontact with a gasket contact portion and extending to an outside, areduction portion connected to a lower end of the case contact portionand extending downwardly, and a coupling portion connected to a lowerend of the reduction portion and coupled to the ice transfer duct. Athickness of the reduction portion decreases as it goes from the frontside to the rear side.

Advantageous Effects

A refrigerator according to the present disclosure has the followingeffects.

The present disclosure can smoothly open and close a pivot door since athickness of a gasket decreases as it goes to the rear side, and agasket contact portion contacting the gasket is inclined as it goes tothe rear side when the pivot door is closed.

The present disclosure can also improve a sealing force between a gasketand a gasket contact portion when a pivot door is closed since an uppersurface of the gasket and a lower surface of the gasket contact portionare disposed to be inclined downwardly and to be opposite to each otheras they go to the rear side

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator applied to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an ice transfer duct and acompartment in a state where a pivot door of a refrigerator illustratedin FIG. 1 is opened.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an ice transfer duct and acase contact portion of a first pivot door illustrated in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an ice discharge port and agasket contact portion when viewed from a lower side of a compartmentillustrated in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 5 illustrates a compartment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a part of a compartment illustrated in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 7 illustrates a part of a compartment when viewed in a differentdirection from a direction illustrated in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an ice storage bucket installed in acompartment.

FIG. 9 a is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a firstpivot door is closed as illustrated in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 9 b is an enlarged view of a portion indicated in FIG. 9 a.

FIG. 9 c is a cross-sectional view while a first pivot door is beingclosed.

FIG. 10 illustrates a partition of storage spaces of a main body of arefrigerator.

MODE FOR INVENTION

In embodiments of the present disclosure to be described below,reference for the same structure and components as those of a relatedart is made to the related art, and a detailed description thereof isomitted.

The technical terms disclosed herein are used to merely refer to aspecific embodiment and does not intend to limit the present disclosure.A singular expression used in embodiments can include a pluralexpression as long as it does not have an apparently different meaningin context. In the present disclosure, terms “include” and “comprise”should be understood to be intended to designate that illustratedfeatures, areas, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts and/orcombinations thereof are present and not to preclude the existence ofone or more different features, areas, numbers, steps, operations,components, parts and/or combinations thereof, or the possibility of theaddition thereof.

When any component is described as “being connected” or “being coupled”to other component, this should be understood to mean that anothercomponent may exist between them, although any component may be directlyconnected or coupled to the other component.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator applied to the presentdisclosure. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an ice transferduct and a compartment 600 in a state where a pivot door of arefrigerator 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is opened. FIG. 3 is a perspectiveview illustrating an ice transfer duct 331 and a case contact portion383 of a first pivot door illustrated in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is aperspective view illustrating an ice discharge port 6113 and a gasketcontact portion 6119 when viewed from a lower side of the compartment600 illustrated in FIG. 2 . FIG. 5 illustrates the compartment 600. FIG.6 illustrates a part of the compartment 600 illustrated in FIG. 5 . FIG.7 illustrates a part of the compartment 600 when viewed in a differentdirection from a direction illustrated in FIG. 6 . FIG. 8 is aperspective view of an ice storage bucket 800 installed in thecompartment 600. FIG. 9 a is a cross-sectional view illustrating a statewhere a first pivot door 310 is closed as illustrated in FIG. 1 . FIG. 9b is an enlarged view of a portion indicated in FIG. 9 a . FIG. 9 c is across-sectional view while the first pivot door 310 is being closed.FIG. 10 illustrates a partition of storage spaces 11 and 12 and an icemaking compartment 60 of a main body of a refrigerator.

For reference, as illustrated in FIG. 9 a , a cooling unit for supplyinga cool air to the ice making compartment 60 is separately presentoutside the ice making compartment 60.

FIG. 9 a illustrates a circulation of cool air in the ice makingcompartment 60 by arrows.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 , a main body 10 is configured to form anappearance of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The main body 10 is formed in a rectangular parallelepipedbox shape. The main body 10 includes an outer case 100, an inner case200, a refrigerator compartment 11 provided at an upper part, a freezercompartment 12 provided at a lower side of the refrigerator compartment11, and an ice making compartment 60 formed as an independent space.

The outer case 100 is configured to form an appearance of the main body10, i.e., substantially form the appearance of the refrigeratoraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The outer case 100is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with an opened front anda space formed therein.

The inner case 200 is coupled to the outer case 100 by beingaccommodated and assembled in an inner space of the outer case 100. Theinner case 200 is coupled to the outer case 100 while providing a spaceportion 102 between the outer case 100 and the inner case 200 so thatvarious wires can be accommodated and a thermal insulation material 110to be described later can be injected and foamed.

The inner case 200 has an opened front, and the refrigerator compartment11 and the refrigerator compartment 11 can be selectively shielded bydoors 300 and 400, respectively.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosureincludes a main body 10 including a refrigerator compartment 11, afreezer compartment 12, and a special compartment 13; an ice makingcompartment 60 formed in the main body 10 as a separate thermalinsulation space from the refrigerator compartment 11, the freezercompartment 12, and the special compartment 13, the ice makingcompartment 60 including an ice maker 700; and a door 310 that opens andcloses the refrigerator compartment 11 and is provided with a dispenser330 communicating with the ice making compartment 60. The ice makingcompartment 60 is provided with an ice discharge port 6113 from whichice made by the ice maker 700 is discharged, and the dispenser 330 isprovided with an ice transfer duct 331 communicating with the icedischarge port 6113. A gasket 332 is formed along a perimeter of the icetransfer duct 331, and an upper surface of the gasket 332 contacts alower surface of the ice discharge port 6113. The lower surface of theice discharge port 6113 and the upper surface of the gasket 332 areformed to be inclined downward as they go from a front side to a rearside.

The refrigerator compartment 11 and the ice making compartment 60 aresimultaneously formed as independent spaces by foaming.

The freezer compartment 12 may be formed as an independent space at thesame time as the refrigerator compartment 11 and the ice makingcompartment 60 by foaming.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure isconfigured such that the refrigerator compartment 11, the freezercompartment 12, and the special compartment 13 are partitioned from eachother in an up-down direction by a partition wall.

The partition wall is provided through integral injection and foamedintegrally, but may be composed of a separate thermal insulation walland assembled.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a pivot door 300 is formedat a front surface of the refrigerator compartment 11.

The pivot door 300 includes a first pivot door 310 and a second pivotdoor 320. As a left upper end and a left lower end of the first pivotdoor 310 are respectively hinge-coupled to a left upper end and a leftcentral part of the main body 10, and the first pivot door 310 pivotsclockwise or counterclockwise, the first pivot door 310 opens and closesan opened front left part of the refrigerator compartment 11. As a rightupper end and a right lower end of the second pivot door 320 arerespectively hinge-coupled to a right upper end and a right central partof the main body 10, and the second pivot door 320 pivotscounterclockwise or clockwise, the second pivot door 320 opens andcloses an opened front right part of the refrigerator compartment 11.That is, the first pivot door 310 and the second pivot door 320 arerespectively installed on the left and right sides of the main body 10and are disposed side by side in the left-right direction.

The first pivot door 310 includes a first door outer case 310 a formingan appearance of the first pivot door 310 and a first door inner case310 b coupled to a rear end of the first door outer case 310 a.

The pivot door 300 is provided with the dispenser 330.

The dispenser 330 is configured such that water stored in a water supplytank (not shown) or ice stored in the ice making compartment 60 can betaken out of the refrigerator through an outlet port without opening thepivot door 300 in a state in which the pivot door 300 is closed. In thepresent embodiment, the dispenser 330 is provided in the first pivotdoor 310 installed on the left side of the main body 10.

Specifically, the dispenser 330 may be provided with an operation unit333 such as a button, a lever, and the like. The user may take out thewater stored in the water supply tank (not shown) or the ice stored inthe ice making compartment 60 through the dispenser 330 by manipulatingthe operation unit 333, if necessary or desired.

The dispenser 330 includes an ice transfer duct 331 that is formed atthe first pivot door 310 in the up-down direction, and a lower end ofthe ice transfer duct 331 communicates with the outlet port. When thefirst pivot door 310 is closed as illustrated in FIG. 9 a , an upper endof the ice transfer duct 331 communicates with the ice makingcompartment 60, and thus the outlet port of the dispenser 330 and theice making compartment 60 communicate with each other. Hence, even whenthe first pivot door 310 is closed, the ice stored in the ice makingcompartment 60 can be taken out of the refrigerator through the outletport of the dispenser 330.

The ice transfer duct 331 includes an ice inlet pipe 330 a supportingthe gasket 332

The ice inlet pipe 330 a is partially spaced apart from and coupled tothe ice transfer duct 331 so that the ice inlet pipe 330 a can support acoupling portion 389 to be described later.

The ice inlet pipe 330 a includes an upper end flange 3301 inserted intothe coupling portion 389 to be described later, and a tube-shaped body3303 extending to a lower side of the upper end flange 3301.

The upper end flange 3301 is an upper end perimeter of the ice transferduct 331.

The gasket 332 is formed along the upper end perimeter of the icetransfer duct 331, i.e., at the upper flange 3301 and can maintainairtightness between the ice making compartment 60 and the refrigeratorcompartment 11 when the ice transfer duct 331 and the ice makingcompartment 60 communicate with each other.

The gasket 332 is formed to have a decreasing inclination as an upperend of the gasket 332 goes from a front side 332 a to a rear side 332 b.Detailed configuration of the gasket 332 is described later.

More specifically, the gasket 332 is entirely formed in an obliquelyinclined shape so that a front end of the upper end is positioned higherthan a rear end of the upper end.

The gasket 332 is formed to have a gradually decreasing inclination asit goes from the entire perimeter of the upper end to the outside of thecenter of the gasket 332.

A compartment 600 provided separately may be assembled at an uppercorner of one side of the inner case 200.

The inner case 200 includes the compartment 600.

Unlike the present embodiment, the inner case 200 may be integrallyformed with the compartment 600 through injection.

The compartment 600 may be a wall that serves as a right thermalinsulation wall and a lower thermal insulation wall for forming the icemaking compartment 60.

Configuration such as the ice maker 700 making ice and an ice storagebucket 800 storing the ice made by the ice maker 700 is accommodatedinside the compartment 600.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate partial configuration of the compartment 600.The compartment 600 includes a first lower plate 611, a first side plate612 extending upward over an entire right end of the first lower plate611, a first coupling plate 613 extending to the left over a part of anupper end of the first side plate 612, a first front plate 614 that hasa rectangular shape and is formed such that a lower end and a right endof the first front plate 614 are respectively formed integrally at anentire front end of the first lower plate 611 and an entire front end ofthe first side plate 612, and a first rear plate 615 formed integrallyover rear ends of the first lower plate 611, the first side plate 612,and the first coupling plate 613.

The first front plate 614 includes a first opening 6141 penetrated inthe front-rear direction so that the ice storage bucket 800 to bedescribed later can be taken into and out of the ice making compartment60.

The first lower plate 611 is configured to form the bottom of thecompartment 600. The first lower plate 611 is formed to extend in thefront-rear direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 , the first lower plate 611 includes aninclination plate 6111 having an inclination θ1 that is inclineddownward as a front side goes from the front to the rear. A rear side ofthe inclination plate 6111 is formed as a horizontal plate 6112.

An ice discharge port 6113 penetrated in the up-down direction is formedon the front side of the first lower plate 611, i.e., the inclinationplate 6111 to be spaced apart from a front surface of the first frontplate 614 to be described later.

The ice discharge port 6113 is a hole from which ice made by the icemaker 700 and stored in the ice storage bucket 800 is discharged. Theice discharge port 6113 is provided at the lower part of the compartment600 to be spaced apart from the rear side of an ice making compartmentdoor 810 to be described later.

As the ice discharge port 6113 is provided at the lower part of thecompartment 600, a joint portion between the ice making compartment door810 and the compartment 600, i.e., a detachable portion for opening andclosing between the ice making compartment door 810 and the compartment600 is positioned to be spaced apart from the ice discharge port 6113 atthe front side of the ice discharge port 6113. Hence, a loss of cool airon a movement path of ice stored in the ice storage bucket 800 can beminimized.

A gasket contact portion 6119 convexly protruding downward is formed ata perimeter of a lower end of the ice discharge port 6113.

The gasket contact portion 6119 is formed on a lower surface of thecompartment 600, i.e., on a lower surface of the inclination plate 6111of the first lower plate 611. The gasket contact portion 6119 is formedin a ring shape along the perimeter of the lower end of the icedischarge port 6113.

The gasket contact portion 6119 is inclined to have a decreasinginclination as it goes from the front to the rear.

The gasket contact portion 6119 is a portion that is in close contactwith the gasket 332 provided at the upper end of the ice transfer duct331 formed in the dispenser 330. The gasket contact portion 6119intensively applies a pressure to the gasket 332 to increase a sealingforce and prevent a loss of cool air.

A separation distance in the up-down direction between the perimeter ofthe ice transfer duct 331 and the perimeter of the ice discharge port6113 decreases as it goes from the front side to the rear side. Athickness of the gasket 332 positioned at the perimeter of the icetransfer duct 331 decreases as it goes from the front side 332 a to therear side 332 b.

Specifically, based on the ice discharge port 6113, a separationdistance in the up-down direction between the front side of the icetransfer duct 331 and the gasket contact portion 6119 is greater than aseparation distance in the up-down direction between the rear side ofthe ice transfer duct 331 and the gasket contact portion 6119. Thus, thethickness of the gasket 332 needs to decrease as it goes from the frontside to the rear side, in order to perform the sealing between the icedischarge port 6113 and the ice transfer duct 331. That is, the gasket332 needs to be inclined so that it has a decreasing inclination as theupper end of the gasket 332 goes from the front side 332 a to the rearside.

Hence, the gasket contact portion 6119 smoothly pressurizes the entireperimeter of the upper end of the gasket 332 along the inclinationformed in the gasket 332 when the first pivot door 310 closes the mainbody 10, and at the same time, is in close contact with the entireperimeter of the upper end of the gasket 332, thereby maintainingairtightness between the ice making compartment 60 and the refrigeratorcompartment 11.

Since the gasket 332 and the gasket contact portion 6119 smoothlycontact each other along the inclination formed in the gasket 332 whenthe first pivot door 310 closes the main body 10, twisting or pushing ofthe gasket 332 can be prevented without adding a separate lubricatingmaterial to the gasket 332.

When the ice making compartment 60 is formed by the compartment 600, anentrance wall 630 and an installation wall 640 may be further includedin addition to the compartment 600.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the entrance wall 630 is coupled to a frontpart of the compartment 600.

The entrance wall 630 is configured to form an entrance portion of theice making compartment 60. The entrance wall 630 is formed in arectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole and includes a secondopening 6301 that is penetrated in the front-rear direction in a centralportion.

An ice guide portion 6319 protruding downward is formed on a front lowerplate of the entrance wall 630.

A lower end of the ice guide portion 6319 is formed to have the sameinclination as the inclination plate 6111 of the first lower plate 611.

As an inside of the ice guide portion 6319 is formed to be penetrated inthe up-down direction, an upper end of the ice guide portion 6319communicates with the second opening 6301, and the lower end of the iceguide portion 6319 communicates with the ice discharge port 6113.

When the entrance wall 630 is coupled to the compartment 600, the lowerend of the ice guide portion 6319 is inserted into the ice dischargeport 6113 of the compartment 600.

A shape of the gasket 332 is described in detail below with reference toFIGS. 9 b and 9 c.

The gasket 332 includes an inner peripheral portion 381 forming apassage through which ice passing through the ice discharge port 6113first passes among the gaskets 332, a case contact portion 383 that isconnected to the outside of the inner peripheral portion 381, has anupper end in close contact with the gasket contact portion 6119, andextends to the outside, a first part 385 that is connected to a lowerend of the case contact portion 383 and extends to the inside, areduction portion 387 that is connected to a lower end of the first part385 and extends downwardly, and a coupling portion 389 that is connectedto a lower end of the reduction portion 387 and is coupled to the iceinlet pipe 330 a.

The inner peripheral portion 381 is formed to have a long length in theup-down direction and has a shape with a lower end rolled outward. Thus,ice can easily fall to the lower side without being caught in the insideof the case contact portion 383 of the gasket 382.

The inside of the case contact portion 383 is connected to an upper endof the inner peripheral portion 381, and the case contact portion 383 isformed to be inclined downward as it goes to the outside.

The outside of the first part 385 is connected to the lower end of thecase contact portion 383, and the first part 385 extends to the inside.

The first part 385 is formed to have a substantially long length in thefront-rear direction.

Since a thickness of the front side of the gasket 332 is greater than athickness of the rear side of the gasket 332, the front side of thefirst part 385 is inclined downward as it goes from the front to therear, and the rear side of the first part 385 has a shape close to beingparallel to the front-rear direction as it goes from the front to therear.

A thickness t1 of the front side 332 a of the gasket 332 is greater thana thickness of the rear side 332 b of the gasket 332 by the reductionportion 387. Specifically, the gasket 332 has a gradually decreasingthickness as it goes from the front side 332 a to the rear side 332 b.

Hence, the upper surface of the gasket 332 has a shape corresponding tothe inclination plate 6111 that is inclined downwardly.

Accordingly, when the first pivot door 310 is opened and closed bymoving in a direction of the arrow, a lower surface of the gasketcontact portion 6119 formed on the inclination plate 6111 is disposed tocorrespond to the upper end of the gasket 332, i.e., an upper end of thecase contact portion 383. Hence, changes in the thickness of the gasket332 enable the smooth opening and closing of the first pivot door 310.Further, since the gasket 332 contacts the gasket contact portion 6119and is pressed downward, the sealing force between the gasket 332 andthe gasket contact portion 6119 is improved.

Based on the left side, i.e., the front side of FIG. 9 b , the reductionportion 387 includes a first reduction portion 3871 that has an upperend connected to the lower end of the first part 385 and is disposed toelongate in the up-down direction, a wrinkle portion that has an upperend connected to a lower end of the first reduction portion 3871 andforms a wrinkle in at least a part of the reduction portion 387, and afourth reduction portion 3874 that has an upper end connected to a lowerend of the wrinkle portion and is disposed to elongate in the up-downdirection.

The wrinkle portion includes a second reduction portion 3872 that has anupper end connected to the lower end of the first reduction portion 3871and is inclined inwardly downwardly as it goes from the upper side tothe lower side, and a third reduction portion 3873 that has an upper endconnected to a lower end of the lower second reduction portion 3872 anda lower end connected to the fourth reduction portion 3874 and isinclined outwardly downwardly as it goes from the upper side to thelower side.

In this instance, the first reduction portion 3871 and the fourthreduction portion 3874 are vertically arranged substantially parallel toeach other.

The second reduction portion 3872 and the third reduction portion 3873are formed to be inclined in different directions. The second reductionportion 3872 and the third reduction portion 3873 form wrinkles in thegasket and can reduce a load applied by the gasket contact portion 6119when the first pivot door 310 is closed.

A front thickness and a rear thickness of the gasket 332 are differentfrom each other. Specifically, since the front thickness of the gasket332 is greater than the rear thickness of the gasket 332, the reductionportion 387 has a decreasing thickness as it goes from the front to therear. Thus, as illustrated in the right side of FIG. 9 b , it can beseen that a shape of the rear side of the reduction portion 387 isalmost absent. In this instance, it can be seen that the rear side ofthe gasket 332 has the shape in which there is no reduction portion 387and the first part 385 and the coupling portion 389 are connected.

An insertion space into which the upper flange 3301 of the ice inletpipe 330 a is inserted is formed in an inner peripheral surface of thecoupling portion 389.

Specifically, the coupling portion 389 includes, based on the position,a coupling upper piece 3891 connected to the fourth reduction portion3874 or the first part 385, a coupling peripheral piece 3893 that isconnected to the outside of the coupling upper piece 3891 and extendsdownward, and a coupling lower piece 3895 that is connected to a lowerside of the coupling peripheral piece 3893 and is supported on the firstdoor inner case 310 b.

The coupling upper piece 3891 and the coupling lower piece 3895 areformed to extend back and forth.

The coupling peripheral piece 3893 is formed to extend up and down.

The coupling upper piece 3891 contacts an upper surface of the upper endflange 3301, the coupling peripheral piece 3893 contacts an outerperimeter of the upper end flange 3301, and the coupling lower piece3895 contacts a lower surface of the upper end flange 3301.

The first part 385 is connected to the outside rather than the center ofthe coupling upper piece 3891.

Specifically, a portion of the coupling upper piece 3891 connected tothe first part 385 is approximately ⅓ of a front-rear length of thecoupling upper piece 3891 from the outside.

A front-rear length of the coupling lower piece 3895 is less than thefront-rear length of the coupling upper piece 3891.

A front-rear length of the coupling portion 389 is less than afront-rear length of the case contact portion 383.

An outer end of the coupling portion 389 is disposed more inward than anouter end of the case contact portion 383.

The above-described shape of the gasket 332 is merely an example, andthe gasket 332 can have various shapes other than the shapes describedin the present disclosure.

The ice storage bucket 800 may be installed below the ice makingcompartment 60.

Referring to FIG. 9 a , the ice storage bucket 800 is disposed below theice maker 700 and is provided to be taken into and out of the ice makingcompartment 60.

The ice storage bucket 800 may include the ice making compartment door810, an ice crushing portion 820, a bucket portion 830, and an auger840.

The ice making compartment door 810 is configured to selectively openand close the opened front surface of the ice making compartment 60 bybeing detaching from a front surface of the compartment 600.

When the ice storage bucket 800 is taken out of the ice makingcompartment 60, the ice making compartment door 810 is spaced apart fromthe front surface of the compartment 600 to open the front surface ofthe ice making compartment 60. When the ice storage bucket 800 iscompletely taken into the ice making compartment 60, the ice makingcompartment door 810 is in close contact with the front surface of thecompartment 600 to close the front surface of the ice making compartment60.

A handle 811 that the user can grip is provided in the ice storagebucket 800.

The ice crushing portion 820 may be coupled to the rear surface of theice making compartment door 810.

The ice crushing portion 820 is configured to crush ice to be dischargedaccording to a user's selection. The ice crushing portion 820 isprovided at the rear surface of the ice making compartment door 810 toprotrude rearward. A front lower part of the ice crushing portion 820 isopened, and the ice crushing portion 820 communicates with the icedischarge port 6113.

The ice crushing portion 820 is disposed between the ice makingcompartment door 810 and the bucket portion 830 to connect the icemaking compartment door 810 and the bucket unit 830.

A plurality of crushers 821 is provided in the ice crushing portion 820and is configured to crush ice by rotating together with a rotation ofthe auger 840 to be described later.

The plurality of crushers 821 is provided in the ice crushing portion820 and is configured to crush ice while rotating.

A support member 822 is formed at a lower part of the crusher 821.

The support member 822 is disposed at the lower part of the crusher 821and is configured to support ice to be crushed so that the crusher 821can crush the ice.

An operating shaft 823 is connected to the support member 822.

When the support member 822 supports ice, the ice is crushed by thecrusher 821 and then may be taken out to the dispenser 330 through theice discharge port 6113. When the support member 822 does not supportice, the ice as it is may be taken out to the dispenser 330 through theice discharge port 6113.

The bucket portion 830 is coupled to the rear of the ice crushingportion 820.

The bucket portion 830 is a container in which ice made by the ice maker700 is stored. The bucket portion 830 is formed to elongate in thefront-rear direction, and an ice storage space 831 with an opened upperpart is provided in the bucket portion 830.

The auger 840 is provided in the bucket portion 830.

The auger 840 is configured to transfer ice stored in the ice storagespace 831 of the bucket portion 830 to the ice discharge port 6113 andis rotatably provided in the ice storage space 831.

The ice making compartment door 810, the ice crushing portion 820, andthe bucket portion 830 are coupled to each other as described above, andmove together according to the opening and closing of the ice makingcompartment door 810. Therefore, it is possible to take the ice storagebucket 800 into and out of the ice making compartment 60 as a whole.

Although the embodiments have been described with reference to a numberof illustrative embodiments thereof, numerous other modifications andembodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art that will fallwithin the scope of the principles of the present disclosure. Inparticular, various variations and modifications are possible in thecomponent parts and/or arrangements of the subject combinationarrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and theappended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

** Description of main reference numerals ** 10: refrigerator 60: icemaking compartment 300: pivot door 332: gasket 383: case contact portion387: reduction portion 600: compartment 6113: ice discharge port 6119:gasket contact portion 700: ice maker 800: ice storage bucket t1:thickness of gasket front side t2: thickness of gasket rear side

1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body provided with a refrigeratorcompartment and a freezer compartment; an ice making compartment formedin the main body as a separate thermal insulation space from therefrigerator compartment, the ice making compartment including an icemaker; and a door configured to open and close the ice makingcompartment and the refrigerator compartment, the door including adispenser communicating with the ice making compartment, wherein the icemaking compartment is provided with an ice discharge port from which anice made by the ice maker is discharged, wherein the dispenser isprovided with an ice transfer duct communicating with the ice dischargeport, wherein a gasket is installed at a perimeter of the ice transferduct, and an upper surface of the gasket contacts a lower surface of theice discharge port, and wherein the lower surface of the ice dischargeport and the upper surface of the gasket are formed to be inclineddownward as they go from a front side to a rear side.
 2. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein a separation distance in an up-downdirection between the perimeter of the ice transfer duct and a perimeterof the ice discharge port decreases as it goes from the front side tothe rear side, and wherein a thickness of the gasket positioned at theperimeter of the ice transfer duct decreases as it goes from the frontside to the rear side.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein thegasket includes: a case contact portion having an upper end in closecontact with a gasket contact portion and extending to an outside; areduction portion connected to a lower end of the case contact portionand extending downwardly; and a coupling portion connected to a lowerend of the reduction portion and coupled to the ice transfer duct,wherein a thickness of the reduction portion decreases as it goes fromthe front side to the rear side.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 1, whereinthe refrigerator compartment and the ice making compartment aresimultaneously formed as independent spaces by foaming.
 5. Therefrigerator of claim 4, wherein the freezer compartment is formed as anindependent space by foaming at the same time as the refrigeratorcompartment and the ice making compartment.